Coin-operated apparatus for a magnitude or a result of combined magnitudes



April 30, 1963 K. .1. YLINEN 3,087,672

COIN-OPERATED APPARATUS FOR A MAGNITUDE OR A RESULT OF COMBINED MAGNITUDES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 13, 1959 INVENTOR, Klaus Johannes when by g oa/y 6f 56:50am

Attorneys United States Patent 3,087,672 COIN-OPERATED APPARATUS FOR A MAGNI- TUDE OR A RESULT OF COMBINED MAGNI- TUDES Klaus Johannes Ylinen, Freigatan 13, Stockholm, Sweden Filed Aug. 13, 1959, Ser. No. 833,591 Claims priority, application Sweden Aug. 22, 1958 6 Claims. (Cl. 235--61) The present invention relates to improved apparatus of the kind in which a magnitude or a result of combined magnitudes is to be indicated after dropping a coin into a coin chute.

The main feature of the invention resides in that there is connected to the coin chute a channel of which one side wall is in the form of a bar adjustable towards and away from the opposite side wall of the channel, these side walls converging in the rolling direction of the coin, and said adjustable bar being adapted to be adjusted in accordance with the magnitude or result to be indicated in a manner to cause the rolling movement of the coin within the channel to be stopped at a point which is determined by the adjustment of the movable bar, thus enabling the coin itself to serve .as a member for indicating said magnitude or result.

The invention will be elucidated hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings illustrating an embodiment thereof by way of example, the apparatus being assumed to be constructed as a coin-operated apparatus adapted, following upon manipulation of certain knobs to introduce certain known factors and after dropping a coin into the apparatus to calculate and indicate the per-thousand content of alcohol in the blood of a person which has consumed alcohol-containing drinks. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus.

FIG. "2, on an enlarged scale, illustrates the rear side of the front panel of the apparatus together with mechanism mounted thereon.

FIG. 3 is a section taken along the line 33 in FIG. 2

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an operating knob arrangement.

According to E.M.P. Widmark, Alkoholblodprovet, Lund (Sweden), 1941, C.W.K. Gleerups Ftirlag, the perthousand content of alcohol in the blood is c =A/pr-flt, Where A is the amount of alcohol consumed in grammes, p is the body-weight in kilogrammes of the person having consumed the alcohol, r is a constant which for men has an average value of 0.68 and for women an average value of 0.55, ,8 is a constant 0.15) equal for men and women (representing the horary reduction of the alcohol concentration in the blood), and t, finally, is the time in hours which has elapsed after the alcohol consumption.

An alcohol concentration in the blood of 0.5 per thousand is usually considered to reduce the power of reaction and judgment of a person to such a degree that he should not drive motor vehicles, and in certain countries, for instance in Sweden, any person driving a motor vehicle and having an alcohol concentration exceeding said limit is criminal.

The apparatus of the invention calculates and indicates the per-thousand content of alcohol in the blood as a result of a manipulation of knobs by which the three known factors A, pr and [it are introduced.

Since it most frequently occurs that a person who wants a calculation of the per-thousand content of alcohol in his blood to be carried out has consumed alcoholcontaining liquids of various alcohol contents, the component factors (A A A etc.=A) will have to be totalized, and the apparatus, therefore, is provided with a plurality of knobs serving for the intro luction of said component factors.

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The apparatus is enclosed in a fiat casing comprising a rectangular frame 1 and a front panel 2 which carries the whole of the mechanism on its rear side. As will be seen from FIG. 1, the panel 2 carries on its front face and near the bottom edge thereof a number of rotatable knobs 3a to 3i and associated graduated scales 4a to 4i, these knobs serving for setting the alcohol quantity consumed. The knobs correspond to liquors of various alcohol strength, in that, for example, the knob 3w serves for setting the consumed quantity of light beer, the associated scale 4a being graduated in suit-able units of volume, such as, for instance, in units corresponding to the content of a beer bottle, and the remaining knobs 3b to 31' serve for setting consumed quantities of various other spirituous liquors, such as strong beer, light wine, whiskey, etc., the corresponding scales 4b to 41' being calibrated in terms of centilitres. Adjacent the scales the names of the different spirituous beverages as well as their percentages of alcohol may be stated whereby the manipulation of the knobs is facilitated.

Disposed at the top of the panel are two knobs 3 and 3k and associated graduated scales 4 and 4k serving for setting the factor fit, i.e. the time in hours which has elapsed from the time of alcohol consumption, multiplied by 0.15, and the factor pr, i.e. the body weight of the alcohol consuming person, multiplied by 0.68 (for men) or 0.55 (for women).

The front panel 2 is provided between the upper and lower rows of knobs 4 with an elongated aperture or slot 5 having graduated scales 6a and 6b at its upper and lower edges, respectively. The slot 5 is covered on the rear side of the panel with a window pane 5a made of a transparent material, for instance glass. The lower scale 6a is graduated in terms of per-thousand content of alcohol in the blood, and the upper scale 6b indicates the time which has to elapse before the per-thousand content of alcohol in the blood will have been reduced to 0.5, for example.

The construction of the knobs 3a to Si is illustrated in greater detail in FIG. 4. Each knob 3 has a comparatively'thick stem 7 which is journalled in a sheet-metal plate 8 by means of which the knob assembly can be fastened to the front panel 2 by screws. Inserted eccentrically in the rear end face of the stem 7 is a pin 9, and freely rotatable on this pin is mounted a peripherally grooved wire pulley 10. Projecting from the rear side of the plate 8 are two pins 11 and 12 which serve as stop abutments for an arm 13 extending radially from the knob stem 7, whereby the knob can only be turned through a limited portion of a complete revolution. A wire spring 14 engages the stem 7 and grips behind the pins 11, 12 and effects the frictional resistance necessary to retain the knob in any position into which it has been adjusted.

A cord or Wire 15 of a non-stretchable material, such as of metal, is secured at one end to a pin 16 projecting from the rear side of the front panel and is extended from this pin over all the pulleys 10 in the following manner: From the pin 16 the wire is passed at first about the second pulley 10h as counted from the left-hand side of FIG. 2, and then back around the first pulley 101, from which the Wire is passed to the fourth pulley 10 and from this one to and around the third pulley 10g, etc., in the similar manner around the various pairs of pulleys, to pass finally around the last pulley 10a.

From the last pulley 10a the wire is extended to one end of a lever 18 which is pivotally mounted at -17 and is acted on by a helical spring 19 secured at one end to the lever 18, its other end being fastened to a stud provided on the rear side of the front panel 2.

As illustrated in broken lines in FIG. 2 for the first pair of pulleys, the journal pins 91' and 9h of the pulleys 10i, 10h are angularly interspaced by in the zero position of the knobs. Turning the knob 3i clockwise (as seen in FIG. 1), therefore, will cause the journal pin 91 of the pulley 10i to move away from the journal pin 9h of the pulley 10h, and turning the second knob 3h clockwise from its zero position will cause the journal pin 9h of the associated pulley 10h to move away from the journal pin 9i of the pulley 10i.

Both said rotational movements will cause an increase of the length of wire 15 occupied by the pair of pulleys 101', 10h, causing the end of the wire connected to the lever 18 to be pulled to the right of FIG. 2, swinging the lever 18 counter-clockwise against the action of the spring 19.

It will be readily seen that, in the arrangement described, the position of the wire end connected to the lever 18 will be changed in response to the adjustments to which the knobs 3a to 3i are subjected, and that the component factors introduced by these knobs (i.e., in the assumed case, the alcohol quantities consumed in the form of various spirituous drinks) will be added with each other, the sum being expressed in terms of a definite angular movement of the lever or indicator 18.

Denoted by 21 an inclined coin chute is disposed at the rear of the panel 2 and being extended as a horizontal channel 22 behind the aperture or window 5. This horizontal channel 22 is formed between the window pane a which delimits the channel 22 at one side, a metal strip 24 mounted by means of angle pieces 23 and delimiting the channel 22 at the other side, a bar 25 delimiting the channel 22 in the downward direction, and a bar 26 delimiting the channel 22in the upward direction.

The bar 25 is mounted on the rear side of the panel 2 by means of leaf springs 27 and 28 so as to be movable angularly outward from the position shown in full to the position 25 shown in broken lines in FIG. 3.

The front panel 2 near the mouth of the coin chute 21 carries a push-button 29 the rear end face of which is engaged by the leaf spring 27 so that upon pushing this button the bar 25 will be swung into the position 25" of FIG. 3 thus opening the channel 22 in the downward direction.

Also engaging the rear end face of the push-button 29 is a leaf spring 30 secured to the panel 2 and having a stud 31 which passes through a hole 32 in one side wall of the coin chute and normally projects into the coin path thus arresting a coin 33 dropped into the chute in the position shown at 33a.

Finally, also engaging the rear end face of the pushbutton 29 is a leaf spring 34 secured to the panel 2 and adapted in its turn to engage and control a further leaf spring 35 secured to one side wall of the coin chute 21, this leaf spring 35 having at its free end a stop abutment 37 passing through a hole 36 in the wall of the coin chute and projecting into the coin path and being so devised that, as the button 29 is pushed, the coin will roll down from the position 33a to the position 33b where it is arrested by the stop 37 and will be retained in the latter position until the push-button is released and returns into its initial position.

The straight bottom edge 26a of the bar 26 delimiting the channel 22 in the upward direction is set at a slight angle relative to the lower horizontal bar 25 whereby, depending on the spacing of the first-mentioned bar 26 above the bar 25, the coin 33 coming from the coin chute 21 can roll a longer or shorter distance 'along the channel 22 before being arrested by the inclined bottom edge 26a of the upper bar 26.

The bar 26 is mounted on a mechanism enabling the same to be raised and lowered. This mechanism is shown here as comprising a pair of vertical, rigid metal strips 38, 39 interconnected at their ends by leaf springs 48, 41. These leaf springs are in turn secured at their ends to a mounting bracket '42 screwed onto the rear surface of the panel 2. The bar 26 is riveted to the left-hand metal strip 38, as seen in FIG. 2. The metal strips 38, 39 are capable, in the arrangement described, of moving upward and downward, both individually and in common. They will always be maintained in a spaced parallel interrelation.

The pivot pin 17 of the lever 18 actuated by the wire 15 is secured to the right-hand metal strip 39, and the lever 18 further carries at this end a triangular metal plate 43 having a straight edge 44 adapted, through the intermediary of a roller 45, to act on a further triangular metal plate 46 secured to the strip 38 and having a straight edge 47 co-operating with said roller.

Thus it will be seen that if one or more of the knobs 3a to 3i are adjusted, then, owing to the angular movement of the lever 18, the bar 26 through the component parts 43 to 47, will be adjusted vertically relative to the lower bar 25 in response to the positioning of the knobs so that the coin is allowed to roll a longer or shorter distance along the channel 22 before being arrested by the bottom edge 26a of the upper bar 26.

The bottom edge 26a of the bar has an inclination to the horizontal which is suitably selected in relation to the calibration of the bottom scale 6a (the per-thousand scale), and the adjustment of said bar in the vertical direction by means of the knobs 3a to 3i is such as to cause a coin 33 rolling into the channel 22 to be arrested in a position opposite a division mark on the scale 6a indicating the actual per-thousand content of alcohol in the blood.

As stated hereinbefore, the per-thousand content of alcohol in the blood is dependent not only on the quantity of alcohol consumed, A, but also on the body-weight factor pr by which A is to be divided, and on the time factor {it which is to be subtracted from the quotient A/ pr.

These factors [it and pr, respectively, are introduced by means of the knobs 3j and 3k, respectively.

The last-mentioned knobs are constructed substantially similarly to the knobs 3a to 3i, but there are secured to the ends of the knob stems 7 short crank arms or levers 48 to 49, respectively, articulated to one end of respective rods 50 and 51.

The rod 51 at its opposite'end carries the roller 45 disposed between the edges 44 and 47 of the two triangular metal plates 43 and 46 respectively. Turning the knob 3k adapted to introduce the body-weight factor pr, consequently', will approach the roller 45 towards, or move the same away from, the pivot point 17 of the lever 18. This will cause the movement transmitted .by the lever 18 through the roller 45 to the metal strip 38, and thus to the bar 26, to depend on the spacing of the roller 45 from said pivot centre, or, in other words, to vary inversely as the body weight. The knob 3k is adjustable through a complete rotation and is associated with two graduated scales 4k, 4k" on the front face of the panel 2, one scale relating to the factor pr for men, and the other scale to the same factor for women. In the zero position of the knob 3k between the two scales 4k and 4k" the roller '45 occupies its end position farthest from the pivot pin 17.

The rod 50 actuated by the knob 3f serving for the introduction of the factor fit, at its free end engages between a roller 52 on the mounting bracket 42-this roller engaging the bottom face of the rod 50-and a second roller 53 carried by the metal strip 39 and engaging the top face of the rod 50. Turning the knob 3j, consequently, will cause the strips 38 and 39, and thus the bar 26, to be raised or lowered by an amount corresponding to the set value of the factor fit. If a comparatively long time has elapsed after alcohol consumption, the bar 26 will be raised thus enabling the coin 33 to roll a longer distance along the channel 22 before being arrested, and if a relatively shorter time has elapsed after the alcohol consumption, the bar 26 will be lowered causing the possible rolling distance of the coin along the channel 22 to be shorter. The movement involves a subtraction of the factor ,8! from the quotient A/ pr.

All the knobs 3a to 3k are thus adapted to act on the bar 26 mutually independently and to co-operate in a manner to cause adjustment of this bar into a position such that the coin 33 will be arrested in the channel 22 accurately opposite the division point on the lower scale 6a which indicates the per-thousand content of alcohol in the blood as calculated by the aid of the factors A, pr and [31.

The apparatus is operated in the following manner: By means of knobs 3a to 3k the factors A, pr and [it are introduced. A coin is dropped into the coin chute 21 through a coin slot and is arrested in the position 33a. The release button 29 is pushed causing the coin to continue to the position 33b. At the same time the bar 25 forming the bottom of the channel 22 is swung outward, as shown in broken lines in FIG. 3, causing any coin previously introduced and remaining in the channel 22 to drop down into a coin box 54 disposed beneath said channel. Upon releasing the button 29, the bar 25 will return to the position shown in full lines in FIG. 3, and the newly introduced coin 33 will be released at 33b after which it will roll down into the horizontally extending channel 22 in which it will be arrested in a position corresponding to the settings of the knobs 3a to 3k.

The per-thousand content of alcohol in the blood is read from the scale 6a at the window 5, below the coin 33, and on the scale 61) disposed above this window it is possible to read the time as counted in hours which will have to elapse before the per-thousand content will have been reduced below a certain value, such as 0.5.

At the position of the coin 33 in the channel 22 which corresponds to zero on the per-thousand scale 6a, there is provided in the upper edge of the lower bar 25 a recess 55 in which the coin will stop (coin position 330 in FIG. 2) if the result of the per-thousand calculation should be zero.

It is to be understood that various modifications of the arrangement hereinbefore described are conceivable and fall within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. An apparatus for calculating a value and indicating said value on a graduated scale by and upon payment of a coin, said apparatus comprising a coin chute allowing a coin to move from one end to the other end thereof by gravity, a coin channel mounted adjacent the distal end of the coin chute, a graduated scale adjacent to said channel, said coin channel having at least two opposed, converging walls which allow said coin to continue its movement through a distance determined by the channel width established by said two converging walls and quantitatively indicated by said scale, one of said walls comprising a rigid bar-shaped member mounted for parallel displace-' ment so as to vary said channel width, a value indexing mechanism including a plurality of manually operable differentially adjustable means each movable from one extreme position to another extreme position thereof, summation means serially engaging each of said movable means and having a terminal portion displaced difierentially corresponding to the sum of the displacements of all of said manually operable means, and means for controlling the parallel displacement of said bar-shaped member in accordance with said summation means including a pivoted lever means coupled to the terminal portion of said summation means for pivotal movement thereby an amount corresponding thereto, a second lever means rigidly connected to said bar-shaped member, means including an interponent openatively connecting said second lever means and said pivoted lever means and adjustable in spaced relation to the pivot thereof for transmitting movement of said pivoted lever means to said second lever means in selected ratio, and manually settable means for adjusting said interponent so that said bar-shaped member is positioned in accordance with said value indexing means and said manually settable means and said coin indicates the value calculated thereby on said scale.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, and ifurther comprising bracket meanssupported for movement in a direction parallel to the displacement of said rigid barshaped member and bearing the pivot for said pivoted lever, and manually adjustable means for diiferentially adjusting said bracket means.

3. An apparatus for calculating a value and indicat ing the calculated value on a graduated scale by and upon payment of a coin, said apparatus comprising a coin chute allowing a coin to move from one end thereof to the other end by gravity, a coin channel disposed adjacent the distal end of said coin chute, a graduated scale adjacent to said channel, said coin channel having converging walls and a width adjustable by parallel displacement of at least one of said converging walls to allow said coin to continue its movement a distance determined by the width of the coin channel between said converging walls and quantitatively indicated by said scale, a value indexing mechanism in cluding a plurality of rotatable means each adjustable to different angular positions thereof, each rotatable means having an eccentric portion which is displaced transversely of its rotational axis upon angular adjustment of the rotatable means, a cord-like summation element serially engaging each of said eccentric portions and having one end fixed and its terminal end displaced differentially cor responding to the sum of the transverse displacements of all of said eccentric portions, first lever means pivotally mounted at one end thereof, the opposite end of said first lever means being connected to the terminal portion of said summation element for pivotal movement thereby an amount corresponding thereto, a second lever means rigidly connected to one of said converging walls and supporting the latter for parallel displacement, means, including interponent means operatively connecting the second lever means and the first lever means, for displacing said second lever means in response to the pivotal movement of said first lever means in selected ratio, said interponent means being adjustable in spaced relation to the pivot of said first lever means, and manually settable means for adjusting said interponent means so that one of said converging Walls is positioned in accordance with said value indexing means and said manually settable means and said coin indicates the value calculated thereby on said scale.

4. An apparatus according to claim 3 wherein each of said eccentric portions comprises a pin mounted on the associated rotatable means and movable along a circular path upon adjustment thereof to a particular angular position, said pin rotatably supporting a pulley for engagement along a portion of its periphery with said cord-like summation element, the displacement of said peripheral portion from the axis of said rotatable means being varied in accordance with the angular adjustments of said rotatable means.

5. An apparatus according to claim 4 wherein the pins of pairs of said rotatable means have a relative position determining a minimum spacing therebetween in predetermined initial positions of said rotatable means and a maximum spacing in fully rotated positions of said rotatable means, said pins being continuously movable from said minimum spacing to said maximum spacing by the angular adjustment of said rotatable means.

6. An apparatus according to claim 3, and further comprising resilient means connected to said first lever means for biasing it in the opposite direction from the pivotal movement caused by said cord-like summation element.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,193,929 Lion Mar. 19, 1940 2,487,310 Chandler Nov. 8, 1949 2,773,579 Lutes Dec. 11, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 106,134 Germany Oct. 16, 1899 

1. AN APPARATUS FOR CALCULATING A VALUE AND INDICATING SAID VALUE ON A GRADUATED SCALE BY AND UPON PAYMENT OF A COIN, SAID APPARATUS COMPRISING A COIN CHUTE ALLOWING A COIN TO MOVE FROM ONE END TO THE OTHER END THEREOF BY GRAVITY, A COIN CHANNEL MOUNTED ADJACENT THE DISTAL END OF THE COIN CHUTE, A GRADUATED SCALE ADJACENT TO SAID CHANNEL, SAID COIN CHANNEL HAVING AT LEAST TWO OPPOSED, CONVERGING WALLS WHICH ALLOW SAID COIN TO CONTINUE ITS MOVEMENT THROUGH A DISTANCE DETERMINED BY THE CHANNEL WIDTH ESTABLISHED BY SAID TWO CONVERGING WALLS AND QUANTITATIVELY INDICATED BY SAID SCALE, ONE OF SAID WALLS COMPRISING A RIGID BAR-SHAPED MEMBER MOUNTED FOR PARALLEL DISPLACEMENT SO AS TO VARY SAID CHANNEL WIDTH, A VALUE INDEXING MECHANISM INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF MANUALLY OPERABLE DIFFERENTIALLY ADJUSTABLE MEANS EACH MOVABLE FROM ONE EXTREME POSITION TO ANOTHER EXTREME POSITION THEREOF, SUMMATION MEANS SERIALLY ENGAGING EACH OF SAID MOVABLE MEANS AND HAVING A TERMINAL PORTION DISPLACED DIFFERENTIALLY CORRESPONDING TO THE SUM OF THE DISPLACEMENTS OF ALL OF SAID MANUALLY OPERABLE MEANS, AND MEANS FOR CONTROLLING THE PARALLEL DISPLACEMENT OF SAID BAR-SHAPED MEMBER IN ACCORDANCE WITH SAID SUMMATION MEANS INCLUDING A PIVOTED LEVER MEANS COUPLED TO THE TERMINAL PORTION OF SAID SUMMATION MEANS FOR PIVOTAL MOVEMENT THEREBY AN AMOUNT CORRESPONDING THERETO, A SECOND LEVER MEANS RIGIDLY CONNECTED TO SAID BAR-SHAPED MEMBER, MEANS INCLUDING AN INTERPONENT OPERATIVELY CONNECTING SAID SECOND LEVER MEANS AND SAID PIVOTED LEVER MEANS AND ADJUSTABLE IN SPACED RELATION TO THE PIVOT THEREOF FOR TRANSMITTING MOVEMENT OF SAID PIVOTED LEVER MEANS TO SAID SECOND LEVER MEANS IN SELECTED RATIO, AND MANUALLY SETTABLE MEANS FOR ADJUSTING SAID INTERPONENT SO THAT SAID BAR-SHAPED MEMBER IS POSITIONED IN ACCORDANCE WITH SAID VALUE INDEXING MEANS AND SAID MANUALLY SETTABLE MEANS AND SAID COIN INDICATES THE VALUE CALCULATED THEREBY ON SAID SCALE. 